Daniel Arsham has enlisted sneaker customizer Philip Leyesa AKA Philllllthy to age his pair of Dior x Air Jordan 1s in compliance with Arsham's signature disintegrating aesthetic.
The covetable sneakers, one of the most notable collaborations from 2020, have been masterfully eroded to look as if they've arrived from a storage closet in a distant future. Leyesa took no shortcuts as he also aged the original box, and the note to Arsham from artistic director Kim Jones to complete the time-warped effect.
Arsham mentions the Japanese art form “kintsugi,” a wabi-sabi mending method that turns cracks and crevices into artisanal marks of beauty as a guiding principle for his aged sneakers, a practice which Leyesa has spoken to us about before.
Some people may find the sight of artificially aged Dior x Air Jordan 1s – retailing for up to $8,000 on StockX – a nightmare sight, but the distressed appearance is a natural extension of Arsham's oevure and sits alongside other sculptures he produced for Dior earlier in the year.
